Here’s another interesting watch. Shows the interface quite in detail. Mind the French.

Runs pretty smooth, eh? Thanks, review guy!

Source: Generation Phone House

Here’s the press release, if you interested in reading old news. Oh, and you’ll have to go there for pictures as well. I didn’t bother adding them - I’m sure you all know how the aforementioned handsets look. Play around in Paint a bit, and you’ll have the T715. At least, that’s what I think the designer did.

BUT, since we’re such nice fellows, we’ve included a photo and the demo video, which has a rather nice track this time around (and would have suited a Walkman phone better, frankly). Here they are:

The W995- king of the Walkmans. It was announced a few months ago and released just recently. As you may have noticed, we’ve already done a review of the handset. Thing is, it was written based on a prototype of the W995 and that’s why we’ve decided to write a “final impressions” piece after having used a retail version of the phone. We’re quite happy, actually and here’s why…

First off here’s a list of what we like and don’t like about the phone:

Neat stuff

• Aluminium housing adds an undeniable “sexy” factor to the phone’s looks
• The kickstand has proven useful on numerous occasions
• The large-ish 2.6″ screen is nothing short of brilliant
• Playback keys on the side can be used while the phone is locked
• The 3.5 mm jack at the top enables you to plug in any pair of headphones on the fly
• Finally some nice stereo speakers on a Walkman phone
• 8.1 megapixel camera is more than welcome
• Did I mention it has face and smile detection, along with an LED flash?
• 7 preloaded games and 9 additional applications
• Included 8 gigabyte M2 card
• Wi-Fi and aGPS
• Cool themes

Small annoyances

• The kickstand could have felt sturdier
• Volume rocker needs some getting used to
• Keypad keys exhibit various amounts of feedback
• M2 card slot is under the back cover
• Rather small softkeys

Let me just start by saying that the W995 is a fantastic media phone, despite the lack of a larger (preferably touch-enabled) screen. It’s got smarts, but it also definitely has looks. The W995 is by no means covered in aluminium - there are only 2 plates that cover most of the back and the front. Despite that, the phone is still lighter than, say a C905. The slider mechanism is also tighter and doesn’t allow any wobbling at all. The brushed look of the material is especially prominent here. Describing the phone side-by-side is, in my opinion, redundant.

What most amazed me about its looks is that when you opend the kickstand, put it on a table horizontally and launch the Walkman player, the W995 looks exactly like a mini-stereo system with its brightly-lit (naturally, in orange) keys at the top and the front, the large screen on the front and the stereo speakers on the side. Believe me, whenever you want to listen to music or watch a video, you’ll want to set the W995 on its kickstand somewhere. Fact is, the kickstand clicks into place, which saves you the hassle of adjusting it manually in accordance with the surface.

The speakers themselves are pretty powerful and of very high quality. I doubt many would want them to be even louder. They make for a pleasurable video viewing experience - along with the screen! Speaking of watching videos - the phone may not support DivX (or XviD for that matter), but it comes with this really neat software which can convert any of your .avi, .mp4, .mov or .wmv films into a format that can be played on the phone - automatically as you transfer the videos. This makes for a very effortless experience, I might say. Video playback on the phone itself is also something I can’t criticize.

Now, the audio output quality of the phone is superb. Its camera may not be able to replace a standalone point-and-shoot, but I am positive you won’t be using your mp3 player that often once you get a hold of the W995. No, seriously - it is that good. Of, course we have the usual SensMe and shake control gimmicks included in the Walkman v3 music player, but there’s also the Clear Stereo and Clear Bass audio enhancement technologies. I don’t know how they did it, but the phone sure sounds better than other Walkmans with the same music features (read W715). The keys on the side that control the audio playback are also a nice touch and often useful, as you don’t need to unlock the phone or have the music player on the screen in order to use these. They way they light up in orange is also something I should mention (yes, really).

Also worth mentioning is the fact that the phone ships with an 8 gigabyte M2 card. Neat, huh? Well, in that case, you shouldn’t be surprised that the W995 also comes with high-quality noise-cancelling headphones, which, by the way, are super.

The phone’s camera pack 8.1 megapixels, an LED flash and autofocus - quite surprising for a Walkman phone, no? Well, get this, it also has face and smile recognition and BestPic, which enables you to take multiple photos in rapid succession. The quality of the images itself could have been better, but I’m sure it’ll get sorted out in future software updates. To be more precise, the colours are spot-on, but the details could have been better. I also think I see some purple fringing in some of the photos. Here are the samples:

The phone records QVGA videos at 30fps. The audio quality is good, but it’s more than obvious that Sony Ericsson should have bumped up the video resolution.

I feel that commenting on the user interface is a tad unnecessary. It’s the same as on every other recent A2 feature phone from Sony Ericsson. There’s one difference, though - the settings menu is not tabbed any longer. This enables it to have one more sub-menu - the electronic user guide. You could say that’s both bad and good. The themes that come preloaded are also pretty nice. They employ nigh-hypnotizing animations and a very modernistic style.
Speaking of preloaded content, there are 7 pretty fun games that come with the phone and 9 more applications (excluding the ones from the organizer).
The software itself is as stable as can be. I’ve had no problems whatsoever. Bravo, SE!

Finally, I’d like to comment on the additional connectivity options. First off, we have your usual Bluetooth connectivity with the A2DP profile. The assisted GPS is also a feature worth noting - it enables geo-tagging for photos, turn-by-turn navigation, Google maps and assists in the sporty Tracker app. Then we have a DLNA-certified Wi-Fi (b & g) chip on-board. Connecting to a wireless network is easy as pie and the speed and range are also pretty adequate.

All in all, I am very satisfied with this phone. It’s a great all-rounder and given the already falling prices, it would be a good buy for anyone searching for a phone that has quality music… and a kickstand!

For a more detailed analysis, please refer to our full review.

The “impressions” articles are the sort that only describe certain features of a phone that are instrumental in defining the handset’s image. In this notion, these articles are shorter than both reviews and previews. They may also serve the purpose of building upon a previous review.

Source: My Sony Ericsson Blog

[Thanks, SoullessOne!]

Sony Ericsson’s own ambassador - Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova - wore a rather striking dress at an event in London on the 17th June. What’s so unique about it is that it uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone and lights up when you’ve got an incoming call. That way you know when someone’s calling you even when you can’t hear your phone (say, in a noisy club). This “light up” effect is described to originate from “small, white translucent scale embellishments that run down one side of the dress from the shoulder to the hip”.

The concept dress was designed by George Davies, a London College of Fashion student. The prototype garment is still far from being a commercial product, so you gals should probably stop wondering how on earth you’d have to wash this thing.

Source: Switched

That’s it, folks. The Satio, the Aino and the Yari will ship on 28th September… this year! Earlier than you thought, no? No? Oh, well.

One of the few YouTube videos that have made me chuckle, really.

Remember that third mysterious colour we mentioned in our review of the C510? Well, we did say it would be white and red. So, it’s not such a big deal, actually. And yes, it is now official. Doesn’t this colour combination remind you of Mirror’s Edge, somehow?

Anyway, just to freshen your memory, the C510 is a mid-range cyber-shot cameraphone with a 3.2 megapixel camera, Photo flash, face and smile detection, a cool lens cover, an accelerometer and other stuff. For a complete list visit Sony Ericsson’s web page.

Sony Ericsson’s next Windows Mobile flagship – the (supposedly named) X2 has been photographed yet again. This time the leaked photo shows a white version of the phone and a much better view of the QWERTY keypad – we think.

So, the next XPERIA is rumoured to boast an 8 megapixel camera, a large 3.2″ (3.5″?) touchscreen amongst many other niceties, including its predecessor’s features. The new menu looks like to be the homescreen of Windows Mobile 6.5 in stead of the 6.1 version in the X1. We’ll just have to wait and see whether all of this is true. Ya’ hear that, SE?

Also posted at Mobiwoo

Source: jjlifeblog

Yes, our favourite video review guy, Mr. Wonky Accent is at it again. This time the team behind PhoneArena has managed to get its hands on Sony Ericsson’s flagship phone - the Satio. So, in case you haven’t seen the last dozen or so videos, here’s one more.

PS. Ahem, not all Bulgarians speak English like that. Just pointing out.

Over at se-community we published livepics and a detailed hands-on on the touchscreen mediaplayer which we don’t want to hide from you

The livepic-gallery can be found here. Below video shows the look&feel of the media player on the beautiful 16:9 capacitive touchscreen.

The folks over at GSMArena have done it again! Apparently, they’ve managed to get their hands on Sony Ericsson’s future flagship phone - the 12 megapixel Satio touchscreen cameraphone. And they’re really liking it. Like, really. They also say the screen quality is amongst the best they’ve seen, despite it being TFT and that itscapacitive nature doesn’t hinder usability at all. Furthermore, they state that the Satio produced the most high-quality photos they’ve ever seen from a phone and that it can easily replace a mid-range standalone camera. Pretty cool, huh? Oh, and that the VGA clip quality and video playback are superb.

Did I mention they love the interface? Well, for the whole preview plus pictures, photo samples and videos click the Source link. You know you want to.

Source: GSMArena

So, Sony Ericsson announced two mid-end phones today. Both of these belong to the company’s new line of environmentally-friendly phones, dubbed GreenHeart.

The first one is the very familiar C901, but with additional GreenHeartbranding this time. So what does this mean. Well, for one, the phone will ship withlimited packaging due to the lack of a user manual, which is entirely digital and loaded onto the phone’s memory. Also, the C901 is made out of 50% recycled plastics and will be covered with a special waterborne paintthat reduces exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds. An improved light sensor is also incorporated, in order to reduce power consumption. The phone also comes preloaded with a WalkMate app, that tells you the steps you’ve made and  the amount of CO2 emissions you’ve prevented by not driving a car instead. Lastly, the phone will also come with a MH300 GreenHeart headset, made out of 100% recycled plastics.

Otherwise, this is still the same old C901, featuring a 2.2″ screen, a 5 megapixel camera with xenon flash and video light, autofocus, an active lens cover and software technologies, such as face and smile detection, BestPic, Photo fix, red-eye reduction, Geo-tagging Smart Contrast and other. We’ve also got GPS, quad-band GPRS?EDGE and dual-band UMTS/HSUPA here.

Now, Naite, which is Sony Ericsson’s 4th nontraditionally-named phone is lower-end phone. In addition to the eco-friendly technologies found in the C901, Naite will also have a low-power charger - one of the first of its kind. Besides that, it has a 2.2″ screen and a 2 megapixel camera, without flash or autofocus. FM radio is there as well. What’s great is that it has quad-band GPRS/EDGE support, plus HSDPA. It should come in two colour varieties - Vapour Silver and Ginger Red.

The C901 should hit the market in Q2, while Naite - in Q3,

Naturally, most of us can’t understand a word in Chinese, so just head on over to the site to see some pretty photos of the Satio’s many colours (or 3, to be more precise) and its interface in action. Still action.

Nah, kidding, there are also 3 videos (coincidence? I think not!).
Generally I think that the interface transitions are much smoother this time around. You’ve got to wonder why does it always lag at those conferences? And how the hell did ePrice manage to get a hold of the Satio? We may never know.

So, what was I saying? Ah, yes, click on the link below. Like, now.

ePrice hands-on

Light environment, compared with C905 shots:

C905: 

Satio:

Macro shots:

Without flash / with flash:

Darkness (in nightmode):

Video, VGA resolution, 40MB (watch this if you always wanted to know  the recipe for pancakes )

(Right-click and “Save as…” to your PC/Mac if the video doesn’t open correctly)